I learned to embroider when I was a kid, when everyone was really into cross stitch (remember the '80s?). Eventually, I migrated to surface embroidery, teaching myself with whatever I could get my hands on...read more

I learned to embroider when I was a kid, when everyone was really into cross stitch (remember the '80s?). Eventually, I migrated to surface embroidery, teaching myself with whatever I could get my hands on...read more

Temari Techniques: Book Review

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Barbara Suess’s new book, Temari Techniques: A Visual Guide to Making Japanese Embroidered Thread Balls is out, and is it a beauty! If you are familiar with temari and fascinated by the art, this is definitely a book for you! I’ve gone a few rounds with temari myself – I made this temari ball for my niece, for example – but I’ve always wanted to venture further with the it. And now, I think I definitely will! Barbara Suess’s book is inspiring!

One thing about the book: it is loaded with gorgeous photos of Japanese embroidered thread balls. I always tend to be drawn to a book by visual interest. Yep, I’m the type who looks through the book at the pictures first.

There are some amazing temari in here!

I love this group. At one point in the book, Barb suggests using the embroidery stitches you already know to decorate temari, and these embroidered spheres are a perfect example of doing that. They’re covered with flowers made from detached chain stitch (daisy stitch), French knots, straight stitches, fly stitches – all simple embroidery stitches. And they are beautiful!

Every section of the book highlights a delightful collection of these works of art.

But of course, pictures aren’t everything. The book begins with the story of the art of temari – what the are and where they come from, how they developed, and so forth. And then – the instruction! The book is chockfull of instruction – step by step lessons for constructing and decorating your own temari, from making the core to the finishing touches.

Throughout the book, helpful tips are highlighted in the margins and footers, to make your temari adventure a successful one.

There are clear diagrams for dividing the temari ball into basic sections and more complex sections.

This is the most thorough temari book I’ve seen – there are so many possible combinations and divisions covered in here, that I’m pretty sure if you only had one book on temari and this were it, you’d be well occupied for life in creating all the possibilities!

So while I’m impressed with the aesthetic appeal of the book – it really is gorgeous and would stand alone as one of those “coffee table” books – it’s the instructional content of the book that really sells me on it. After all, what’s a technique book, without good instruction?

And of course, there are plenty of instructions for specific designs, grouped into stitching different types of shapes, from simple to complex. The beginner can start at the beginning of the book and worth through the various sections on stitching and wrapping, and be a pro by the end of the book.

There’s a beautiful section on challenge designs, so if you already have experience creating temari, you’ll still have plenty here to challenge you.

The books is extremely well organized, from beginning to end. At the end of the book, there’s a great pictorial index, so you can easily look up the kind of design you want to create. I love this!

The idea of making temari eggs enchants me more than making the regular spheres… I see them in all kinds of applications, from Christmas tree ornaments to Easter basket additions to housewarming gifts. I’m not sure why I’m drawn to the egg shape more than the sphere, but I am! And you rarely see a really thorough covering of egg shapes in temari books. So I’m happy to have this extra instructional booklet.

Where to Find It

You can find Tamari Techniques available through the following book affiliates:

Wow.
What a BEAUTIFUL, amazing book!
I’ve never heard of Tamari before, but I think I’m in love already.
Having only started stitching 2 years ago, and being the restless 22 year old that I am, there’s a whole lot I don’t know and have yet to stubble upon.
I’m a total nut for anything Japanese, so this is right up my fairly small street!
I’m just itching to give it go.
Do want.

Ohh! Ohh! It’s beautiful. I’ve wanted to make temari and yubinuki (thimbles) since I saw an article in “A Needle Pulling Thread” several years ago. I can make the mari, and I understand the mathematics, but for some reason I’ve never had the courage to start one all on my own. What a beautiful resource.

When I worked at the New England Quilt Museum we featured Japanese fabrics and had Temari ball kits. I loved them but the instructions were in Japanese and I had no idea how to possibly put them together! I’m so happy about this book, I can’t believe there are clear instructionas and pictures – I get a second chance at making one of these wonderful creations!

I bought a book of how to create Tamari several years ago and it is still hiding in my pile of things to discover. I have been wanting to make some new Christmas ornaments, but every time I look at the pictures I get very intimidated. This may just be the incentive I need to dig into my UFO bin and try it. Not to mention I failed at tatting class a couple of weeks ago and now have some beautiful threads that would work great. And don’t worry, I am not giving up on the tatting, but need to continue to do needle tatting instead of shuttle tatting. Admittedly, I’m a much better teacher than I am student. I’m a very slow learner.

What I timely post! I just found my temari book (Mary Wood’s The Craft of Temari) when we cleaned out the spare room. I made temari as Christmas gifts for my family a few years back, and they were so much fun.

This book looks so intriguing. I love the “wave” patterns on the eggs below the flower spheres. Mesmerizing!

I have Barb’s first book (and several others) and it used to be my favorite Temari book. Now this book is. As Mary says, it’s beautiful to look at. Even better, it has step by step instructions all in one place. I could start at the beginning and worth through basic techniques (as I did with the first book). Or now that I have more experience I can jump to a design that interests me and refer back to anything that I’ve forgotten.

I tried making Temari twice before and failed miserably. I decided to try an online class and Barb’s instructions made all the difference. Now the distillation is here in a book that I think anyone interested in the topic will love.

These are so lovely to look at. The intricacy is quite intimidating to me, plus, it looks like it requires math/geometry skills, so I’ve never tried it.
I might have to put this book on my list, although I’ve already got more projects on it now than one person could possibly start, much less finish, in a lifetime.

Mary,
You convinced me, I need to give this a try. Especially with the bonus egg designs. Barbara was very prompt. I ordered the book Wednesday night through her Etsy store – along with a pack of needles and the V tool – and had it by the weekend. The book is gorgeous and inspirational.
P.S. I mentioned your newsletter when I ordered, so she knows how people are finding out about her book.